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The South Toe River this past weekend – near Mt. Celo Church
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My Meditations on Today’s Readings
(Ellipses are mine
and are used for contemplation.)
Key Words – Prophecy:
hear, receive, go, speak, warn - whether they hear or refuse
God’s Word: Jesus Christ, Your testimonies, Your
precepts, Your judgments, Your commandments, a word from My mouth
God’s Word to Israel
and Judah - Ezekiel 3 and 4 (Facts:
What It Says – Summarized) Before God:
Ezekiel is brought before God, and falls on his face. The Spirit lifts him up and takes him away to
give the word of the LORD to Israel
– a message of doom if they do not repent.
“Son of man, I have made you…a
watchman for the house of Israel…therefore…hear…a word from My mouth and…give…them
warning from Me.” Ezekiel
also receives a warning. He must deliver
God’s message and warn the people, or their blood will be required at his
hands. God warns Him that Israel is
rebellious, impudent and hard-hearted. Nevertheless, “whether they hear, or whether they refuse – go, speak.” Before God’s
People: God uses Ezekiel as an object lesson. 1) He will be bound with ropes, unable to go among them. He will be mute, except when God uses him to
speak his word. 2) He is to take a clay
tablet, portray Jerusalem on it, heap a mound against it, set camps against it, place battering rams against it
all around, take an iron plate and set it as an iron wall between himself and
the city, and lay siege against it as a sign to the house of Israel. 3) He
is to lie on his left side for 390 days –
one day for each year of Israel’s iniquity.
Then he is to lie on his right
side for 40 days – one day for each year of Judah’s iniquity. 4) “Therefore
you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem. Your arm shall be
uncovered, and you shall prophesy against it. And surely I will restrain you so
that you cannot turn from one side to another till you have ended the days of
your siege.” 5) He is to apportion food and drink for himself for these
days: a special bread and water in specified amounts. The bread was to be baked over human waste,
but Ezekiel petitioned the LORD saying he had never eaten anything
abominable. The LORD gives him cow dung
instead of human waste. This is also a
sign for Israel. “Son of man, surely I will cut off the supply of bread in Jerusalem;
they shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and shall drink water by
measure and with dread…that…they may lack bread and water and be dismayed with
one another, and waste away because of their iniquity.” Principle:
God will often use extreme measures to get our attention, to turn us away from
our evil that will lead to our doom, if we do not “repent and forsake” our evil ways.
God’s Word to David –
Psalm 119: 161-168 (Facts: What It
Says – Summarized)
David’s Dilemma: “Princes
persecute me…without a cause. I hate and
abhor lying.” David’s Strength and Refuge: “But…my heart stands in awe of Your
word…as one who finds great treasure…I praise You…because of Your righteous judgments…Great
peace…have those…who love Your law;
nothing causes them to stumble. LORD, I hope for…do…keep…love…Your commandments…Your testimonies…Your
precepts…for…all my ways are before You.” Principle: David was
“a man after God’s own heart” (1
Samuel 13:13) because he was a man who knew, kept, and loved God’s Word.
God’s WORD to Us in
the Church Age – Hebrews 2 (Facts:
What It Says – Summarized) Our charge:
“Therefore, we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift
away…for…if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every
transgression and disobedience received a just reward…how shall we escape…if we
neglect so great a salvation…which at
the first began to be spoken by the LORD, and was confirmed to us by those who
heard Him.”
The WORD made flesh (John 1:14):
“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels…for the
suffering of death…crowned with glory and honor…that…He, by the grace of
God…might taste death for everyone.
For…it was fitting for Him…for whom are all things…and by whom…are all
things…in bringing many sons to glory…to make the captain of their
salvation…perfect through sufferings.” At His
Throne and In His Word: “Therefore…in
all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and
faithful High Priest in things…pertaining to God…to make propitiation for the
sins of the people….For…in that He Himself has suffered…being tempted…He is
able to aid those who are tempted.” Principle: God, in His mercy and grace, sent
Jesus (the Word made flesh - John 1:14)) to make atonement for our sins through His
sacrificial death on the cross. He
conquered death for us, sits forever as our High Priest making intercession for
us and granting us direct access to the very throne of God. His Holy Spirit indwells us, enabling us to
live lives obedient to His Word and to His glory.
My Lessons and
Applications: Am I communing with Him daily in His Word and through
prayer? Like David, am I keeping,
loving, doing…His Word…in spite of…in the midst of…among those …who “persecute me without cause”...in a world
that is “crooked and perverse.”
(Psalm 119:116, Philippians 2:15) Does
my life reflect “Christ within me?” Am I
fulfilling the Great Commission? Am I
doing this for His honor and glory, or for my own? (Galatians 2:19-20, Matthew
29:19, 1 Corinthians 10:31)
He who…covers…his sins will not prosper, but whoever…confesses…and…forsakes…them will have mercy.
Proverbs 28:13 from
Today’s Proverbs reading
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